Print to a PDF file, plot file (.plt), or printer

You can print drawings and selected drawing areas to PDF files or to plot files (.plt) to be sent to a plotter or printer, or print drawings on a printer. You can also modify the output line colors and line widths. You can print to a single printer or to multiple printers, or print one drawing to multiple sheets.

Print a drawing

On the File menu, click Printing > Print drawings.
This opens the Print drawings dialog and Document manager.

You can also start printing in the following ways:
- In Document manager, select the drawings, right-click, and select Print, or click the Print button.
  The order of drawings matches the order they appeared in Document manager at the point in time when the Print drawings dialog was opened.
- When a drawing is open, select File > Print drawings.
- Press Shift+P on the keyboard.
In Document manager, select the drawings that you want to print.

You can also print locked drawings that are up to date. If a locked drawing is not up to date, you cannot open or print it, and a failed printout will be reported. You can print any unlocked drawings unless the status of the drawing indicates that the original part is deleted.
In the upper-left corner of the Print drawings dialog, ensure Use one printer is selected.
This is the default option.
For more information about printing to multiple printers, see Print to multiple printers.
Load the desired printing settings from the settings list.

If there are several settings files listed, you can start writing the name of the desired settings file to show only the desired file on the list, and then press Enter to select it.

When you load the printing settings, the Save button remains disabled. Once you make some changes in the printing settings, the name of the settings file will be displayed in italics and get an asterisk at the end. The Save button will be enabled once you have modified the settings.

You can also give the settings a new name. For more information about the printing settings, see Printing settings files and search order.
To show a preview of the drawing, click Click here to load a preview in the preview area.
- The drawing preview is always up to date. Check the preview whenever you change the printing settings.
- Use the mouse wheel to zoom in the preview. You can also zoom into areas of interest. If the preview gets unclear when you are zooming, maximizing the window might help.
- The preview also supports panning with the middle mouse button.
- If you want to preview with precision, place the printing dialog so that you can see the current drawing and ensure that you have activated the Printer line widths switch in File > Settings.
- If you have selected to print several drawings, the drawings are shown one by one in the preview. Use Next and Previous to scroll through the set of selected drawings.
Select the desired printing option:
- PDF file: Converts the selected drawings to PDF format.
- Printer: Sends the selected drawings to the selected printer.
- Plot file: Converts the selected drawings to plot files (.plt) in a format suitable for the selected plotter and saves them in a specified location.
  You cannot open the created plot files in Tekla Structures, because Tekla Structures does not provide a plot file viewer, but you need a third-party application to view the plot files.
Define the printing settings on the Options tab.

The available settings depend on the printing option that you have selected. See the "Printing settings: Options tab" section for details on the printing settings.
Go to the Line properties tab to set the output colors and line widths (pen numbers).

See the "Define printing settings: Define line properties" section for details.
To save your printing settings including the line properties, click Save in the upper-left corner.
For more information about the printing settings and the search order, see Printing settings files and search order.
You can also add frames and fold marks to your printouts.
Click Print to print the drawings in the PDF format or as plot files, or to send them to a printer according to the settings you defined in the dialog.
Each drawing is sent to the printer as a separate print job.
All printing errors are written to a log file in the model folder: logs\DPMPrinter_<username>.log.
If you have selected drawings that need numbering or updating, a dialog is displayed, and you can select how to proceed:
Note: You cannot update or number locked drawings.
- Print only up-to-date drawings (recommended)
- Number and update before printing the drawings
- Print drawings without updating
- To cancel the whole process, click Cancel.
Click Print.

A summary is displayed showing you the printing result and a list of drawings that need attention.

Define printing settings

Settings on Options tab


Setting	Options and description
File location	Enter the location for the PDF file or plot file, or use Browse... to browse to the folder. The \Plotfiles folder under the model folder is the default value. This option is only available if you have selected PDF file or Plot file.
Printer or plotter	Select the printer or plotter. Click Properties... to adjust printer properties.
Include revision mark to file name	Add the mark of the latest revision of the printed drawing to the print file name. Revision number is used by default. If you always want to use the revision mark instead, set the advanced option XS_SHOW_REVISION_MARK_ON_DRAWING_LIST to `TRUE`. If the revision mark is still not displayed, check the following advanced options and include REVISION_MARK in the value: XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_A, XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_W, XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_G, XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_M, or XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_C, depending on the drawing type. This option is only available if you have selected PDF file or Plot file. See also support article Including drawing revision mark to print file name.
Open folder when finished	Open the PDF file or plot file folder in Windows Explorer after the printout has been created. This option is only available if you have selected PDF file or Plot file.
Open file when finished	Open the PDF file after it has been created. This option is only available if you have selected PDF file.
Output to single file	Print the selected drawings to a single PDF file. If you do not select this option, each of the selected drawings will be printed in a PDF file of its own. This option is only available if you have selected PDF file.
PDF file name	Give a file name to the PDF file. The file name is needed if you are printing to a single file. By default, the name Combined.pdf is used. This option is only available if you have selected PDF file and Output to single file. The PDF file name can also be controlled by a couple of advanced option switches for customizing print file names. These switches do not work for single combined multiple drawings PDF file. Sometimes the drawing file name may have an illegal character, which cannot be printed. Because of this, Tekla Structures replaces large number of illegal characters with an underscore "_". Check the file naming conventions provided by Microsoft "Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces".
File extension	Specify a file name extension for the plot file. The default is plt. This option is only available if you have selected Plot file.
File prefix File suffix	Enter a specific prefix and/or suffix in the PDF or plot file name. When you enter a prefix or suffix, the file name preview under the File prefix and File suffix boxes will reflect the change immediately. The file name can also be controlled by advanced option switches for customizing print file names. This option is only available if you have selected PDF file or Plot file.
Fit to paper	Fit the drawing to a specific paper size. This setting does not work if you have selected Scale.
Scale	Force the printout to a specific scale. The Scale value will turn red if the drawing cannot fit on the specified sheet. This setting does not work if you have selected Fit to paper.
Center drawing on paper	Center the drawing on the sheet (or sheets).
Print on multiple sheets	Print on multiple sheets and specify the direction of printing the sheets. This is particularly useful if your drawing contains several drawings. Select to print from Left to right, top to bottom or from Bottom to top, right to left. When you use Print on multiple sheets, always set a particular Scale. The preview shows how the drawing is divided into sheets. For details, see Print to multiple sheets.
Paper size	Define the paper size or use automatic size. With the Auto setting Tekla Structures selects the paper size that has the least wasted area when the scaled print is fitted to the printable area on the sheet. Printers are often unable to print on the full area of a sheet, and leave borders. The printable area is determined for the selected printer when the option Printer or Plot file is selected. For PDF files, the printer is not known, so the output is sized to the full sheet. However, when printing a PDF, the same problem exists and the drawing content is fitted to the printable area of whatever printer is being used. The printable area is shown with white background and the non-printable border is shaded gray in the image below. Two configuration files affect paper sizes and drawing sizes: PaperSizesForDrawings.dat and DrawingSizes.dat. For more information, see Configuration files for printing.
Orientation	Define the orientation or use automatic orientation. The Auto setting means that the orientation that wastes least space is selected automatically.
Color	Select if the output is to be Color, Black and white, or Tekla Grayscale. For details on how the standard and custom colors are handled in different color modes, see Colors in drawings.
Number of copies	Define the number of paper copies to be printed. This option is only available if you have selected Printer.
Collate	Collate the printout when you are printing multiple copies. This option is only available if you have selected Printer.
Embed fonts	Embed the fonts in a PDF file. This ensures that fonts may be reproduced in a system that does not have the same fonts installed, but this also increases the file size. In certain cases, fonts may be embedded automatically. When using non-Latin fonts, we recommend that you use embedding, otherwise the PDF may not be displayed correctly. Note that you can also define a default Unicode font for the advanced option XS_DEFAULT_UNICODE_FONT_DRAWING_PRINTING. If the selected font does not contain all characters in the text, the font is defined by this advanced option. The default value is Arial Unicode MS. This font might not be installed on your machine by default, and you may need to install it. You can also define another font that contains the characters you need and that you have installed on your machine. Embed fonts is only available if you have selected PDF file.
Trimble Connect	Select the Link drawings to model objects checkbox to link each object in the PDF drawing to the model in Trimble Connect. If the checkbox is selected, for assembly drawings and cast unit drawings you can define in Link assembly or cast unit drawings to whether the drawing is linked to the assembly or the main part. If you have not yet selected the PDF drawing upload folder for each drawing type, you can do it by clicking … next to Upload drawing settings. By default, the current settings are used. When ready, click Print and upload to Trimble Connect to upload the PDF drawing to the set folder in Trimble Connect. For more information, see Upload a Tekla Structuresmodel to Trimble Connect project.
Select area	Select a rectangular area from an open drawing to only show and print that area. This option only works when you have a drawing open. All settings in the Print drawings dialog also work when Select area is selected, and you can change the orientation, line width, and paper size, for example.
Show entire drawing	When you have selected an area with Select area, the Show entire drawing button appears, and you can use it to show the entire drawing in the preview again.

Define line properties

The Object color column shows the configured set of drawing object colors by default. Use the Color on output options to define the colors to be used in the output and the Thickness column to define the line widths. The Output preview column shows a preview of the printed lines.

If you have selected Tekla Grayscale or Black and white as the print color on the Options tab, the Color on output settings are disabled.

In Tekla Grayscale mode, certain standard colors are shown and printed as black, whereas the Grayscale line property option converts all colors, standard and custom, to different shades of gray using an algorithm. In line properties, gray is shown in either grayscale mode as a percentage, for example, "Tekla Grayscale - Gray 50 %" or "Grayscale - Gray 29 %".


To	Do this
Use colors in the current drawing preview as output colors	You can use object colors in the currently previewed drawing as output colors. To use the colors in the current drawing preview in the output, delete the existing line properties first. Select all line property rows using Ctrl or Shift, right-click and select Delete. Ensure that the preview of the drawing is shown. If it is not shown, click Click here to load a preview in the preview area. This activates the button. Click the button. Ensure that the Color on output is set to By object on all rows. All object colors that exist in the previewed drawing are added to the Line properties tab as line properties. If a color exists already, it is not added again. The line thickness from the Default row is used for all rows, but you can adjust the line thickness.
Add a new line property	You can add a new line property to the list of line properties and specify the desired output for it. Click the button. To select a color, do one of the following: Select a standard color. Select a saved palette from the Custom list and click a custom color in the palette Click OK. A new line property with the specified color is added on the Line properties tab. The line thickness is taken from the Default row, but you can adjust that. If the color already exists, it will not be added.
Map an object color to a custom color	You can assign a custom color to an object color as the output color. Click a color row and select Custom from the Color on output list. Select a saved palette from the Custom list, click a custom color in the palette, and then click OK. You can also select several rows using Ctrl or Shift , right-click and then select Output > Custom.
Use drawing object color in output	You can use the drawing object color as the output color. Click a color row and select By object from the Color on output list. You can also select several rows using Ctrl or Shift, right-click and select Output > By object.
Print objects in grayscale	You can print the desired object colors always in grayscale. Click a color row and select Grayscale from the Color on output list. You can also select several rows using Ctrl or Shift, right-click and select Output > Grayscale. The Grayscale option converts all colors, standard and custom, to different shades of gray using an algorithm. In line properties, gray is shown in as a percentage, for example, "Tekla Grayscale - Gray 50 %" or "Grayscale - Gray 29 %".
Skip objects in printing	You can skip the printing of the drawing objects that use a specific object color. Click a color row and select No output from the Color on output list. You can also select several rows using Ctrl or Shift, right-click and select Output > No output.
Remove a line property	Select one or more rows. You can use Ctrl or Shift to select multiple rows. Click Delete in the dialog, or right-click and select Delete.
Use default color and line width in printing	The Default color and line thickness are used for those colors in the drawing that have no output definition on the Line properties tab. To use only one color and line thickness in the printout for all objects, define the desired color and line thickness for the Default row and delete all line property rows. Select one of the following options: By object - Use drawing object colors in the output as they are in the drawing. Grayscale - Print in grayscale. Custom - Select a custom color. No output - Skip printing of objects that have a certain color.
Define the line width	Do one of the following: Enter the line width for each color in the Thickness box. Define the line width for several color rows: Use Ctrl or Shift to select multiple rows. Right-click and select Line thickness. Enter the line width for the selected rows. Line width is expressed as a multiple of the advanced option `XS_BASE_LINE_WIDTH` value. The default value for this advanced option is 0.01 mm. For example, line width 25 will give a line weight of 0.25 mm. NOTE: The line widths in the drawing editor always follow the line Thickness setting if the drawing Color mode is Black and white, but in Color and Tekla Grayscale drawing color modes, the line widths are accurate in the current drawing only if the Printer line widths switch is active in File > Settings. In the print preview, correct line widths are always shown. To overwrite the line scaling when printing an A1 drawing to A3 or A4, for example, see the support article "Re-scaling when printing" for more information.

Other important printing settings

The advanced option XS_DRAWINGS_USE_CAP_HEIGHT_FOR_FONT_HEIGHT controls which font height system is used in printing, CAP font height or em font height (default). With CAP height, the font height is the same as the height of the capital letters of a specific font, and the font height stays the same in export and printing. With em height, the font height is converted from one unit to another (em to CAP) in export and printing, and the result is many times an incorrect font height.
The advanced option XS_DRAWINGS_LINE_CAP_STYLE defines the line cap style in printing. You can have lines break in corners (value 0, default), round line corners (value 1), or rectangular line corners (value 2).